All That Glitters...37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

At the same time as the others were having their conversations, Minsc was downstairs, in the playhouse. Minsc was also asleep. Snoring loudly, as a matter of fact. Minsc didn't understand plays, but when his witch asked him to watch, he did, even though none of it made sense to him. After a short conversation with Boo, who didn't understand either, he decided it was a good time for a nap. Boo wholeheartedly agreed. Thus, they had been dozing contentedly for some time.

Haer'Dalis and Aerie didn't mind, though. In fact, they didn't even seem to notice, despite the stair-rattling snores coming from the back of the playhouse.

"You have come to me, my goddess! I have prayed for my love not to be denied, and my majestic queen appears before me!" Haer'Dalis proclaimed grandly. He flung his hands out in a dramatic gesture.

Aerie had not yet memorized the play, and she held a sheaf of papers in one hand. She made a dramatic gesture with the other hand and intoned, "Aye...Tersis has come to you, my Donner. Your yearning has called to me across the void, and against all sober advice, I have come." She reached over and turned the page.

"Then let me sing your praises while I can, my Queen. Let me tell you how I adore your flaxen hair, your porcelain skin...let me tell you how I long to brush my hand across your pale cheek..."

Aerie's brow furrowed in confusion. She turned another page, then another. Then she brought those pages back to the front of her sheaf and turned them sideways and upside down, as if they would make more sense that way. "Um...Haer'Dalis?" she tried to interrupt.

Haer'Dalis was in his element now, and, eyes fixed on Aerie's face, he continued. "Your breathtaking beauty has captured my heart and I long to cradle your innocence in my arms for the breadth of eternity..."

Aerie took another brief look at her script, then shook her head. "Haer'Dalis, I think your memorization's off...you must be thinking of another play."

"Forget the play, my mourning dove...I speak what is in my heart. My words come unbidden to my lips, for you have captured my soul in your innocent hands. I am yours, my sweet Aerie. Can you not see that? You blossom like a flower before me and I am entranced, swept away and caught in your fragile web all at once!"

"Oh..." Aerie said, turning away, appearing overwhelmed. Anyone who could have seen her face at that moment would have seen a devious smile, tinged with a touch of worry. It's too soon, she thought. Kal's not here to hear it.

As fate would have it, Kal happened to be walking down the stairs at that moment. Aerie held her "overwhelmed" pose for thirty more seconds to give him time to get down.

Of course, seeing Aerie frozen in a turned-away position was not an encouraging sign for Haer'Dalis - and in conversation, thirty seconds can be a long and unsettling period of time. "Do you not feel some spark, yourself, my dove? Does your heart not quicken in my presence as mine does in yours? I prithee, do not crush my fragile plea!" he pleaded.

Aerie suddenly turned towards the stairs. "Kal, Haer'Dalis just...just said the most wonderful things to me!"

Haer'Dalis turned a peculiar shade of red as he saw Kal standing at the base of the stairs. "Er, my dove, the words were intended for you alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kal said, backing up and putting one foot back on the stairs. "Did I interrupt?"

"Not at all," Aerie said with a bright smile, failing to notice Haer'Dalis' frantic nods and gestures for Kal to go back up the stairs. "We were just practicing a...a lovely play," she continued, even as Haer'Dalis used both his hands to mime Kal running back up to the main floor.

"No, no. I can see, you don't need to be so polite," Kal said, eyes meeting Haer'Dalis' for a second in acknowledgement. "You were in the middle of something. You know, I don't need to be here. I was just checking and you two seem to be doing just fine. Uh...carry on." Without waiting for further comment, Kal quickly climbed the stairs and was gone.

Haer'Dalis breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. He picked up where he'd left off. "Aerie...my sweet dove...I regret that I have not given you time to ponder my words, but my aching soul yearns for requitement. My bursting heart has reached the limits of its restraint! Do you not feel some measure of love for this solitary bard? I beg you to say that you do!"

"Your words are...are marvellous, Haer'Dalis," Aerie said, loudly enough so that her voice carried to the main floor. "But this is all s-so...sudden."

"It is not sudden, my love, but rather it is momentous...a revelation of affection that has stricken me like a most welcome affliction!" Haer'Dalis took a breath, composing his next line quickly. "Tell me that you feel similarly, my mourning dove, and I'll be yours forever more, my heart lain at your tender feet. Or tell me that you have no love and I'll be forsworn...but say it true!"

"I...I do not deny that I hold you in great esteem, Haer'dalis. It is...just that...that...." Her voice trailed off, and she cast a long look (carefully timed) up the stairs. However, Kal had already escaped, and was nowhere near the stairs.

Haer'Dalis decided to appear to have not noticed the look up the stairs, unaware that he was being played like a cittern. "Such vague words, my dove. Many things are just such, others are just so, and yet others are not just at all. I understand that this is sudden, that perhaps you have not yet had time to chart your heart's course, but I beg of you, discover your heart's true intent soon. My own path is now lined in flames, and I reach out over them, searching for your hand...."

Aerie was silent for a few minutes. "Perhaps this would not be a good time to continue the play, my dove," Haer'Dalis said, filling the silence. "I will attend to certain other matters. You may find me upstairs when you are ready." Leaving Aerie behind, Haer'Dalis climbed the stairs quickly.

On the main floor, he looked around with quick, almost desperate motions. Not seeing Kal anywhere, he headed up to the main floor and started searching. Kal's room was empty, but he noticed light coming from under the door of a locked broom closet. Not even bothering to knock, he shouted through the door, "Kal...Kal, we must needs speak."

Kal unlocked and opened the door, a book in his hand. "I was just trying to get some reading in and...what?" Kal asked as he saw the expression on Haer'Dalis face. "What do you need to talk about?"

"In private, my raven. This is not a matter for the ears of all and sundry."

"Uh...sure. Though I don't think this closet has room for two," Kal said with a faint smile.

"There are conference rooms. Let us go - quickly!" It took barely a minute for the two to get to one of the conference rooms and shut the door firmly. Kal braced a chair against the door and moved a potted plant behind it for good measure.

"Go ahead," Kal prompted.

"Aerie, my raven! She is torn between us, and cannot make a choice! This sparrow asks of you to turn away from her and to allow her affections to settle on myself! My heart yearns for her and I beg this favour of you!"

A number of thoughts went through Kal's head at that moment. The first, which he wasn't particularly proud of, was sure, go ahead, take her and get her out of my hair. Then, there was, this is like watching two carts rolling down hills toward each other, maybe I should warn you. And but who am I to stand in the way of true...wait a second, true what? This cannot end well...but me saying no to that can't end well either. All right, whatever you want, though I'm afraid that it's going to hurt further on down the line. But you brought this upon yourself....

"I would be glad to do it, Haer'Dalis...but how?"

Haer'Dalis' brow furrowed. "This is something that had escaped my consideration."

"I can't just declare that I have no feelings for her, can I?" Oh please, please say I can.

Haer'Dalis shook his head. "No, no, my raven, you've the right of it. Such a statement would break her heart and stain her lilac beauty forevermore."

"Uh, yes...what you said. So, er, what can we do that will convince her completely?"

"I...I do not know," Haer'Dalis confessed.

"Nor I, but maybe we can come up with something," Kal said.

"Soon," Haer'Dalis said. "We cannot allow this to continue." Then Haer'Dalis suddenly snapped his fingers. "An inspiration as if sent by the powers above! It comes from the passages of a certain play I am familiar with...."

"I'm no actor, Haer'Dalis," Kal cautioned.

"You need not be." And Haer'Dalis explained the plan quickly, whipping out a quill and ink at one point and scribbling some details down on a piece of scrap parchment.

"You won't be able to travel with us, then," Kal observed.

Haer'Dalis hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It is true, but this can never be an issue resolved unless your presence is no longer near. I fear I do damage to the structure of this group, but what might result should this situation persist?"

"You're right. It's not better if you stay. But what of Minsc?"

Haer'Dalis drew a breath in. "Ah...the berserker. I would not want to deprive you of a strong arm and a loyal companion."

"He's devoted to Aerie as his witch, though, which means he has to keep her safe. I think it would be better for him to go with you."

"If you are sure," Haer'Dalis said uncertainly. "It leaves you rather short-handed, if I may say so. I would not resent his presence, certainly, but I am concerned for your welfare as well."

"What do you intend to do once you leave?" Kal asked in what seemed a sudden change of direction.

"Leave Athkatla, to be sure," Haer'Dalis said. "Travel the land. This world boasts many wonders, and it has been a while since I explored the Prime in any detail."

"Then he actually stands a better chance of achieving his goal - bringing Aerie safe to Rashemen - in your company than in mine. He should go with you."

Haer'Dalis nodded slowly. "Settled, then."

Kal held out his hand. "It's been an honour. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to travel with you longer - you've been a good companion."

Haer'Dalis shook the offered hand. "And you as well. The dictates of Fate, I suppose. I wish you luck on your quest."

From below, they heard Aerie's voice asking for Haer'Dalis. "The time has come, it seems," Kal said in a detached tone.

Haer'Dalis smiled broadly. "The curtains draw aside - the stage awaits!" Opening the door, he motioned for Kal to go through. "I shall have been thinking upon the rooftop. Go to your room, and when asked, direct my fair dove there."

Kal went straight to his room and filled Cel in on the plan carefully to make sure she didn't accidentally incinerate Haer'Dalis. Five minutes later, Aerie stopped by.

"Kal! Have you seen Haer'Dalis? I really want to talk with him," she said suggestively, still futilely attempting to arouse jealousy in Kal.

"He's on the roof, he's been thinking there for a while," Kal said nonchalantly, pretending to polish Daystar.

"Oh. Um, all right, then..." she said, going up to the roof. Kal walked down to the taproom for the second act. It was not long in coming.

---

Haer'Dalis came down the stairs, trailed by Aerie. Striking a dramatic pose in the middle of the taproom, Haer'Dalis declared, "My mourning dove...the time has come for you to make a choice between us. I beg of you to decide, as my ailing heart can wait no longer!"

Aerie gasped in surprise - real surprise, as she certainly hadn't dreamed of this! "I...oh, Haer'dalis! I never expected for any of this to happen! I...I cannot simply ch-choose between you! Please...can't you understand that? I beg of you not to press me!"

"I...I see, my dove," Haer'Dalis said grimly. "There is only one option that remains, then. Kal...I challenge you to a duel...a fight to the death for the love of our lady Aerie."

"A duel?" Aerie said in confusion.

"There is love...or there is death, my dove," Haer'Dalis said, unsheathing his swords.

"Very well," Kal declared, in a voice a little too loud. "A duel it is."

"No! No, this is madness! I will not allow you to fight over me, I will not allow it!" Aerie shouted desperately. Things were coming apart too quickly - she hadn't planned this, this wasn't what was supposed to happen...! She had to stop it, get it back under control, make it like it should be, like justice itself demanded it should be....

"Step aside, Aerie," Kal said. "He wants a duel, and he will, er, shall have it. I, uh, shall teach him of the folly of such desire," Kal said, feeling stupid even as he said the words.

"No...you can't..." Aerie said weakly, but her mind was off and running behind the words. Kal wants to fight for me! she realized in a burst of inspiration. And Kal was a better swordsman than Haer'Dalis - if he killed Haer'Dalis, then he'd be out of the way and she'd have Kal forever!

Aerie continued to think. Maybe this was the way things were supposed to happen! Yes, it had happened that way sometimes when she dreamed. Kal would fight for her and win her...yes!

"Oh...all right," Aerie said submissively, sinking into the crowd.

"I offer you the chance to yield honourably," Haer'Dalis said, fully in his element. "Many have borne witness to my skill at arms, and not yet has one survived to tell the tale. Now, my love for our sweet Aerie drives my soul and sets the fires of determination within me alight!"

Kal searched his memory for the response. Failing, he surreptitiously turned over his right hand, and read the words inked on the back.

"Ah...I, uh, throw your foolish words back at your, er, in your teeth! Your defeat is assumed...uh, I mean, assured! Put down your - ah, put up your swords!"

"Have at thee!" Haer'Dalis replied, blades at the ready.

Kal drew out his swords with an exaggerated flourish and raised them to guard position. They circled around each other for a good five minutes, exchanging weak jabs and clashing blades harmlessly. Then Kal launched an attack. Haer'Dalis countered by spinning rapidly, blades flashing defensively, and Kal allowed his weapons to be caught by Haer'Dalis' and flung to the walls of the room. Haer'Dalis then lunged, and Kal deliberately mistimed a dodge, tripping over a chair and falling.

"I yield!" Kal shouted, and the tavern was filled with silence. "I yield," Kal repeated.

"I claim victory, then!" Haer'Dalis said triumphantly.

Aerie was staring in openmouthed horror. "Oh...oh!" were the only things she could say.

"Come, my dove," Haer'Dalis said. "We must make preparations to leave."

"Leave?" she asked in total astonishment.

"Yes. We cannot stay, for even the weakest of venom festers given time. To stay with Kal would invite danger and potential destruction. We must leave."

"But...Kal, don't you..." Aerie began.

"I have lost," Kal said, too quickly. "I must, ah, relinquish all claim, by the, er, dictates of honour. Farewell, Aerie, farewell." Haer'Dalis proceeded to drag the confused Aerie from the room, to their individual rooms upstairs where they needed to start packing.

"Minsc does not understand," the big Rashemaar said to Kal. "Aerie is leaving?"

"You're going with her, Minsc," Kal said. "She's your witch - you have to safeguard her and bring her back to Rashemen."

"But...Minsc does not want to leave Kal behind! Much butt-kicking, and vengeance for Dynaheir, still to happen!"

"Yes, Minsc, I know. But I will find the wizard Irenicus, so you do not have to worry about Dynaheir. Your first task is to bring your witch back, in any case. Go back to the Ice Dragon lodge, earn your place among the heroes of your people. You wouldn't do it any time soon in my company."

Boo chittered at Minsc, and the big ranger let out a sigh. "All right, Boo. Kal is right, he says, and Boo is right too. I go. Minsc will miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Minsc. When this is all over I'll visit you at the Ice Dragon lodge."

Minsc turned to go, but Kal held up a hand. "Boo...take care of them, all right?" he said, very seriously, to the hamster.

Boo looked directly at Kal and deliberately gave an unmistakable, human-style nod.

"I knew I could count on you," Kal smiled.

Minsc unsheathed Sarevok's sword. "Boo says that this should stay with you."

Kal frowned slightly. "He's right. You can use that magical one we were going to sell. Now go pack."

In short order the three of them were packed and ready to go, Aerie still looking a little stunned. They said short goodbyes, and left the inn, heading north. Within the hour they had secured a ship to Waterdeep, and they sailed with the evening tide.

Back at the Flagons, Kal breathed a sigh of half-regret, half-relief.

"I wonder if anyone other than Aerie was taken in by that pathetic farce," Viconia said casually as she sat down opposite Kal.

"That was terrible, wasn't it," Kal said with a grimace.

Viconia nodded. "Quite."

"At least it worked."

"And thank all the gods for that," Cel said. "I don't know how much longer I could have endured having her around."

"And we are suddenly four," Jaheira said with a little irritation. "Have you considered that we may not be enough to handle the task requested of us?"

"I'm sure we can find someone," Kal said. "It's better than having seven members and Aerie. A few more days and she would probably have started trying to kill us all, starting with Haer'Dalis." His tone was light, but his expression was serious.

Jaheira nodded. "I see your point."

"Now, I think we should all get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us."